Ï A new educational potential in a new epoch
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A new educational potential in a new epoch

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In accordance with the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan on the Improvement of Education System in Turkmenistan, 12-year general secondary education is to be introduced in our country starting from the 2013-2014 academic year. The Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan approved the concept of the transition of comprehensive secondary schools to the 12-year term of study. In accordance with the concept, children in Turkmenistan will be admitted to school at the age of 6. Elementary education will be provided from the 1st to 4th forms, basic secondary education from the 5th to 10th forms. At the final stage, schoolchildren can chose whether they will continue to study in the 11th-12th forms in the fields they are interested in or at vocational schools and receive the school leaving certificate.

The core education at secondary schools, including specialized schools and boarding schools, provides for an in-depth study of the following subjects: natural sciences (chemistry, biology), exact sciences (mathematics, physics) and humanities and social knowledge (history, social science, languages).

Also, the new subjects, such as the cultural heritage of Turkmenistan, the economic basics, ecology, world culture, information and communication technologies, modelling and graphics are to be introduced to the school curriculum in the new academic year. The number of academic hours allocated to the study of computer science, foreign languages, social science and labour education will increase.

The subjects will be grouped by the areas of study: philology (the native language and literature, the Russian language, foreign languages), exact sciences (mathematics, physics, astronomy, computer science), natural sciences (natural history, biology, chemistry), social sciences (Sacred Ruhnama, the history of Turkmenistan, world history, social science, the basics of state and law of Turkmenistan, geography), arts (fine arts, music and singing, the cultural heritage), technology (labour education, drawing), health (physical education, the basics of everyday life).

It should be noted that in the 2013-2014 academic year, the number of first formers in our country will increase by almost half since children at the age of 6 and 7 will be admitted to school.

The education reform launched at the initiative of the Turkmen leader in 2007 has become a key priority of the state policy, a sphere of integration of national interests and the interests of every citizen. Large-scale work has been done within a short period of time to promote the national education system, including preschool, general, elementary, secondary and higher education. Many dozens of new kindergartens and schools supplied with advanced technologies have opened in the capital and the regions of the country. The construction of new educational institutions has started throughout the country, more and more new facilities supplied with state-of-the-art computer and training equipment and access to the Internet are put into operation each year.

Effective measures have been taken to enhance material and technical resources of secondary vocational schools that train specialists for various ministries and departments of the country. For example, the school of agro-industry under the Turkmen Agricultural University, the school of mechanics and technology under the Ministry of Textile Industry, the school of rail transport under the Ministry of Rail Transport, the school of tourism under the State Committee for Tourism, the secondary vocational school under the Turkmenhimiya State Concern opened in Ashgabat and Turkmenabat last year. The construction of the building complex of A. Kekilov school of pedagogy for 1,000 students started in Ashgabat in February this year.

The higher education institutions that have moved to the new buildings in recent years include the State Medical University, the Turkmen State Institute of Transport and Communications, the Turkmen State Institute of Economy and Management, the Turkmen State Institute of Culture, the National Institute of Sports and Tourism, the Institute of International Relations under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Military Institute under the Ministry of Defence and others. Magtumguly Turkmen State University has appeared in a new image. The new buildings have built for some of its facilities in recent years.

Moreover, a number of higher educational institutions have been established in recent years. These are the Turkmen Agricultural Institute in Dashoguz, the Naval Institute under the Ministry of Defence of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen State Institute of Finance, the Turkmen State Institute of Oil and Gas and the Turkmen State Institute of Construction and Architecture. Also, the number of students admitted to higher and vocational schools increases continually; new faculties opened to meet the demand in qualified specialists in priority sectors of the national economy.